The Senate Agriculture Committee will see a new leader in the next Congress regardless of the results of next week’s election as the current chairwoman, Debbie Stabenow, reaches the end of her 24-year Senate career.
Ranking member John Boozman, R-Ark., would likely take the gavel if Republicans secure the majority. Boozman became the top panel Republican in the 117th Congress after the retirement of Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan.
The Democratic side isn’t quite as clear, but Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., looks most likely to take the party’s top Senate Agriculture position — chairwoman or ranking member, depending on who has the majority.
Boozman wants the panel to remain bipartisan, an approach that is often necessary — but not always taken — to bring the nutrition focus of urban Democrats and the farm focus of rural Republicans together in legislation such as the farm bill.
“The Ag committee has demonstrated over its history that it works best when it works in a bipartisan basis and legislates based on the needs voiced by the constituents of this committee: farmers, ranchers, forest landowners, rural residents and those requiring nutrition assistance,” Boozman said in a statement.
The panel spent much of the 118th Congress working on a new farm bill — a legislative effort that will follow it into the lame duck and possibly the next Congress. The Senate hasn’t released the text of its version of the bill but both Stabenow, D-Mich., and Boozman have released frameworks.
Boozman’s framework shows his priorities: modernizing the farm safety net, supporting agriculture research, increasing access to overseas markets and growing rural communities.
He would “modernize” the Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage programs by increasing statutory reference prices for covered commodities by an average of 15 percent. Those reference prices impact payments under both programs.
His framework also proposes adding base acres for farms that have few to none, a significant barrier to accessing the farm safety net. Farmers need at least 10 base acres to receive ARC or PLC payments, with exceptions for the socially disadvantaged, veterans, beginners and those with limited resources, according to the Congressional Research Service.
Boozman says farmers should be able to develop foreign markets and address the “largest agricultural trade deficit in U.S. history.” The agriculture trade deficit is projected to reach $42.5 billion in fiscal 2025, the Agriculture Department said in an August report.
He would double funding for the USDA’s Market Access and Foreign Market Development programs. MAP is a cost-sharing program for overseas marketing and promotional activities and FMD, also known as the Cooperator Program, is aimed at funding long-term opportunities to reduce foreign import constraints. Neither program has seen a funding boost since the 2002 farm bill.
Aside from the farm bill, Boozman also said that he wants to examine the actions of the USDA.
“Ensuring that USDA is faithfully, efficiently and effectively implementing the law is a top priority of mine and I expect that as a committee we will thoroughly examine its actions,” he said.
Democrats’ priorities
Klobuchar looks like the front-runner to lead the Democrats on the panel. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, has more seniority, but Brown’s race for reelection is rated a toss-up by Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales. And if Brown wins, he’s expected to keep his position as the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee.
Klobuchar and Brown didn’t respond to requests for comment.
If the farm bill isn’t passed in the lame-duck session, Klobuchar would have to choose between sticking with Stabenow’s framework, released in May, or taking a new approach. Klobuchar posted her support on X at the time. “This Farm Bill proposal has key bipartisan priorities to strengthen the farm safety net, keep families fed, and invest in rural America,” she wrote.
Klobuchar sponsored seven bills this session that were referred to the Agriculture Committee. The bills address crop insurance, biorefineries, biomanufacturing and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, among other areas. None of the bills saw committee action.
One bill would establish an incentive program to encourage the purchase of nutrient-rich dairy products using SNAP benefits, also known as food stamps. Projects now part of the Healthy Fluid Milk Incentives program would move to the new program. The bill would also direct the USDA to enter cooperative agreements or provide grants to develop and test methods to incentivize the purchase of dairy products using SNAP.
Stabenow’s framework similarly would rename the HFMI to Healthy Dairy Nutrition Incentive Projects and would allow the USDA to enter cooperative agreements or grants to incentivize the purchase of dairy products. But unlike Klobuchar’s bill, the framework proposal doesn’t single out SNAP.
The farm bill remains top of mind for farmers..
“Farmers face mounting economic challenges and need the stability of a five-year Farm Bill,” Rob Larew, the president of the National Farmers Union, said in a statement. NFU has divisions in 33 states and represents family farmers, fishers and ranchers.
“No matter who leads, we’re committed to championing fairness and building a resilient food system. The incoming leaders have shown strong support for agriculture, and we’re ready to work together,” Larew said.
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